The present invention relates to a hole-forming device for cans that allows holes to be formed in a safe and reliable manner for cans used for spraying their contents such as spray cans, gas tank cartridges for stoves, and the like. When these containers are to be discarded, these holes are formed as vent holes to release residual gas.
When discarding spray cans, gas tank cartridges for stoves, and the like, after use, residual gas inside the container may not be completely discharged. This residual gas is often left inside the container when it is discarded. This is extremely dangerous for workers during the disposal operation, and can also have a negative impact on the environment.
For these reasons, various devices have been developed to form gas venting holes in cans so that the gas in containers can be discharged. Many of these form a gas venting hole for discharging residual gas by puncturing a side surface or a bottom surface of a container using a plate material or the like having a nail, a needle, or a sharpened end. This type of device has been the most common.
As described above, many of the dedicated devices used to form gas venting holes for the discharge of gas from used containers involves a sharp end, i.e., a nail-shaped end. However, when forming holes with a nail-shaped member, the puncturing of the container with the nail-shaped member is dangerous.
In particular, since a can is cylindrical in shape, its side surface is a curved side surface. Also, the bottom surfaces are almost always formed as a concave spherical surface. Thus, when a tool having a nail-shaped member is to be driven into a container to puncture it, the end of the nail-shaped member can very easily slip along the side surface of the container if it is driven at an orientation that is even slightly shifted from a perpendicular orientation. This makes forming, a gas venting hole difficult.
Of course, if the end of the nail-shaped member slips when it is being driven in, this is also dangerous for the worker performing the operation. Thus, when forming a gas venting hole in a can using a tool having a nail-shaped member, the nail-shaped member must be kept in a fixed and stable state. Among the various hole-forming devices, almost none take this issue into consideration.